55th Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré - 2.HC

France, June 8-15, 2003

Armstrong faces last challenge before Tour

The 55th edition of the Criterium du Dauphiné Libéré (June 8-15) will mark
Lance Armstrong's final race before the Tour de France this year, where he is
going for a record equalling five straight wins. Should he ride into Paris in
yellow on July 27, he will join the likes of Jacques Anquetil, Bernard Hinault,
Eddy Merckx and Miguel Indurain as the only rider to have won the race five
times.

Armstrong has raced a lighter schedule this season, and has spent time in
May training over the Tour's key stages. The Dauphiné Libéré will provide him
with eight days of tough racing in and around the French Alps, including a 33.4
km individual time trial on Stage 3 and a difficult sixth stage between Challes
les Eaux and Briançon that includes the notorious Col du Telegraph/Col du Galibier
combination.

Armstrong won the Dauphiné last year and went on to dominate the Tour de France,
his prowess in the mountains clearly a level above that of his rivals. In this
year's Dauphiné he will face competition in the form of Christophe Moreau (Credit
Agricole), winner in 2001 and also winner of the Four Days of Dunkirk this year.
Another rival for Armstrong will be Tyler Hamilton (CSC), who had a very good
spring, winning Liege-Bastogne-Liege and the Tour of Romandy, among other good
placings. Another Tour of Romandy performer Laurent Dufaux (Alessio) will line
up in the Dauphiné on Sunday.

Course Description

The eight days of racing will take the riders in a clockwise direction around
the Rhone Alps region of France. Starting with the prologue in the ski resort
of Villard-de-Lans, the riders will climb to Le Balcon de Villard (2.1 km climb
at 7%) on the slopes of the Vercors mountains.

The first stage will take the riders south from the Vercors and into Provence
to finish in Vaison-la-Romaine, a town famous for its wine. Stage two takes
the riders north to Vienne, a small town south-east of Lyon and famous for the
Vienne Jazz Festival that is held every summer. The riders transfer to the rolling
hills of the Loire, north of St Etienne, for the 33 kilometre individual time
trial on the picturesque roads between Saint-Paul-en-Jarez and Saint-Héand.
The time-trial course has a low point of 320 metres, climbing to 780 metres
at the Côte de Valfleury after 13 kilometres.

Stage four is the longest of the race, with 237 kilometres between Vienne
and the pretty ski resort of Morzine, and the first day in the mountains. The
route will include the Col de la Ramaz, the 1613 metre Col that will be used
as the deciding climb on stage seven of this year's Tour de France.

The route of stage five undulates over a number of lower category climbs on
the edge of the Alps before the 500 metres of vertical climbing to the Tunnel
du Granier and the final 10 kilometres of descending into Chambery for the stage
finish.

The high mountains return on stage six, when the race will climb the 1570
metre Col du Telegraphe before the steeper gradients of the 2646 metre Col du
Galibier. The riders will not climb over the Col du Galibier, but instead pass
through the tunnel which is slightly lower at 2556 metres. The riders then have
a long descent to the stage finish in Briançon, one of the highest towns in
Europe.

On the final day, stage seven, the riders will climb the 2067 metre Col du
Lautaret before descending toward Grenoble and onto two climbs in the Chartreuse
mountains. The 1434 metre Col du Coq is 12 kilometres at nine percent before
a very technical descent to then join the easier gradients of the 1326 metre
Col du Porte and a 15 kilometre descent to the finish in Grenoble.